A furious mother-of-four is considering cutting ties with a string of co-parents after they failed to disclose her daughter had chickenpox, amid a situation that has left her clinically vulnerable child dangerously exposed to the virus.
Vaccines have played a significant role in changing the impact of chickenpox in the United States. Data from the CDC shows that prior to the introduction of the US vaccination program in 1996, chickenpox resulted in more than 10,000 hospitalizations and 100 deaths in over 4 million people infected with the virus each year.
Since then, however, there has been a 90 percent drop in chickenpox-related deaths, as well as 84 percent fewer hospital admissions and 92 percent fewer cases. It’s a hugely positive change, but some caution is still needed when it comes to dealing with outbreaks of the virus, as illustrated by the story of one angry mother.
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In a post shared by Mumsnet under the name JustLyra, the woman explained that the youngest of her children is extremely clinically vulnerable and has “numerous health issues” meaning she “is unlikely to make it to adulthood” and the Family has had to “be very careful all their lives”.
Still, the mother said they’ve always tried to find “a balance between being protective and making sure her siblings don’t lead lives that are too limited.” Part of this has always been that any other parent who wants to get their kids involved in activities simply ‘warns’ them about potential problems so they can ‘do a risk assessment’.
This system seemed to work well until one of her other daughters, who is 8 years old, visited a sleepover at her friend’s house. When they first dropped her off, there seemed to be no problems as the child’s parents insisted there was “no cough, cold or anything like that in their house” when she walked over.
However, just a few days later, the mother received a message informing her that the birthday girl had contracted chickenpox. Soon her own daughter had it, and her clinically vulnerable younger child also contrasted with the virus. The latter became “seriously ill” and spent six days in the hospital.
Despite this, the mother had no problems with it, concluding that it was just “one of those things and couldn’t be helped.” Unless it could.
A few days later, she learned from a mutual friend that the birthday boy’s mom felt guilty because they knew “before the party” that she had chickenpox, but they decided “just not to say anything” as they “really wanted to.” “ that her daughter would have had a fun birthday.
While the girl’s father has since “apologized” for the issue, the mother said it “really doesn’t fix it” and she’s not ready to forgive or forget anytime soon. “I don’t want anything to do with them anymore,” she said. “I don’t trust them and I’m angry that they’re taking that risk with someone else’s child, especially in our situation.”
news week contacted JustLyra for comment.
The social media assessed the situation in a similarly clear manner.
BMW6 called their actions “completely unforgivable”, with Outlookmainlyfair writing: “Why push [for] a friendship when her self-centeredness led to your child being hospitalized.”
Margos Kaftan urged the mother to “cut them out,” adding, “I wouldn’t speak to them again and they certainly can’t be trusted with someone else’s child.”
Darbs agreed her actions were “unforgivable” and said she hoped the other mother learned something from the experience. “I hope she felt awful and it would stop her from ever doing anything like this again,” she wrote. “Completely selfish behavior.”
Butitsnotfunnyisititsserious also concluded: “It’s incredibly selfish when a parent of a child known to have chickenpox fails to let others know they will be around… There’s no excuse in the world that.” would make me stay friends. You would never be able to trust them.”